If there was anything wrong with writing to the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Baylor Bears for your March 2021 Madness Support National Championship on Selection Sunday, it’s just because the NCAA tournament has traditionally given us so many surprises. (The lack of Saturday night for UCLA was another reminder.) It couldn’t be because someone doubted the abilities of the Zags or Bears, the nation’s top two teams in November (and maybe even November of 2019) who will finally make it to the National Championship Monday night from Lucasap Stadium in Indianapolis. Perhaps that canceled meeting between the two teams on December 5 was a disguised blessing – we’ll see Mark Few’s team and Scott Drew’s squad to meet for all the marbles.
Before Monday night’s game, ESPN.com’s college basketball team of Myron Medcalf, Jeff Borzello, John Gasaway, and Joe Lunardi met to discuss Gonzaga’s historic implications against Baylor; the road ahead for the Houston and UCLA teams that defeated the Final Four on Saturday night; and the most anticipated player clashes on Monday of the championship at Indy. Follow this link to find out the purpose of Monday’s national championship purpose and visit here to check your March Madness parenthesis or the second March Madness setting.
It is Gonzaga against Baylor for the national championship, the rare case in which the best two undisputed teams in the country reach the final stage of college basketball. What are the historical implications of 1 vs. 2: Are you ready to score where this confrontation is classified in history, or at least in recent history?
Medcalf: This feels a bit unique because we’re seeing a showdown that could have been played last year if the NCAA tournament hadn’t been canceled. Since November 8, 2019, Baylor has lost just five games. Gonzaga has lost two during this stretch. On paper, I think it rivals the North Carolina-Gonzaga 2017 championship game, based on its position in the game’s current hierarchy.
After Kansas won Ohio State in the Final Four in 2012, I think we all agreed that the Jayhawks deserved their shot in Kentucky. But at this time we didn’t have too many two-year accumulations to face the championship. Corey Kispert and Joel Ayayi were strong players a year ago at Gonzaga and Drew Timme finished the 2019-20 season with a series of impressive starts. Jared Butler and MaCio Teague once again chased a title this season for Baylor. A tournament run by two teams anchored by key players from last season’s best teams only amplifies Monday’s game buildup. It is a rare thing at the time. This isn’t just the two best teams this season. They are the two most dominant programs of the last two years.
Borzello: I guess the game I listened to would be the 2005 national championship game between Illinois and North Carolina. Illinois started the season with 29 straight wins and then won the Big Ten tournament before reaching the national championship, while North Carolina suffered four defeats before the tournament, but was right there with Illinois above the rest. of the country in the metric. The difference between these two teams and Gonzaga and Baylor is that we knew they would both be elites before the season, which lived up to expectations during the regular season and then headed into the game for the title. So I think this showdown is worth a little more than the 2005 game.
To me, Gonzaga is a generationally good team; and if we take out the fights after the COVID-19 break, Baylor is not far behind. Baylor is 53-6 in the last two seasons, Gonzaga at 62-2, and I think there’s a chance we would have had two undefeated teams reunited in the title had it not been for the break. This should be the best paper clash in recent history.
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Bayion’s Davion Mitchell scored a 3-point mark to end the first half that sparked the shooting of him and his teammates.
Getaway: We often don’t get clear distinctions between the top two teams and all the other teams in the country; and of course, entering the 2021 tournament, the AP poll said the “first two” meant Gonzaga and Illinois. But the tournament itself defines who the best teams really are, and the Bulldogs and Baylor are clearly the class of Division I. As for the precedents of this century or immediately adjacent to it, North Carolina vs. Gonzaga in 2017 comes to us. in the head, as well as Duke vs. Wisconsin in 2015; Kansas vs. Memphis in 2008; Florida Vs. Ohio State in 2007; North Carolina v. Illinois in 2005; and UConn vs. Duke in 1999. These title games pitted two No. 1 seeders and, with one or two slight exceptions, they were all close in the final minutes. Buckle, it should be fantastic.
Lunardi: All the respect, but the NCAA tournament rarely determines the best team in a given season. Sure, it provides us with a worthy champion, but the idea of “better” is more elusive. Bye now. Gonzaga and Baylor have been in a collision course since they didn’t play the game in December and will now decide a worthy champion and the best team. The only best would be the best of seven.
The road ended for the Houston and UCLA teams that made impressive runs during this tournament. Who do you think is more likely to return to the Final Four, the Cougars or the Bruins sooner?
Borzello: UCLA – and I think the Bruins will be chosen as contenders for the Final Four as we begin to think about the early 2021-22 standings. Mick Cronin could get all the team’s players back this year, assuming Chris Smith decides to return after breaking his ACL in the middle of this season and Johnny Juzang doesn’t make it into the NBA draft. The Bruins also incorporate Peyton Watson, a five-star potential, who should have an immediate impact and provide insurance in the event that either of those two players decides to leave – or someone else moves in surprisingly.
Houston could take a step back with the expected departures of DeJon Jarreau and a couple of court players, while Quentin Grimes could also head to the NBA. With Kelvin Sampson at the helm and how to defend the Cougars, they should be in the top 25 of preseason, but another Final Four looks like a stretch.
Getaway: Last famous words here, but the Bruins seem to reach the sweet spot of “they will be highly valued next season” Mick Cronin has a Final Four team with zero seniors and also with zero players currently in the top 100 of the rankings ESPN NBA Draft. In Houston, Jarreau is a senior player and has been both the Cougars’ main ball defender and, by far, their best dealer. Jarreau will be difficult to replace.
Lunardi: It’s easy to see UCLA as one of the top 10 preseason teams next season, with Houston closer to “others getting votes”. Of course, UCLA has already shown that ranking and ranking mean almost nothing when it comes to advancing in March (or even April). I have no idea who will be next to reach any Final Four, but it’s fair to say that the UCLA program is in a better overall position than Houston to book a return commitment.
Medcalf: I think UCLA, especially if Juzang returns and Smith returns to his knee injury at the end of the season. The Bruins can take the momentum out of this race and take advantage of it. I think it also improves the hiring landscape for Mick Cronin’s program. “You can win a national title at UCLA” hasn’t been a real thing in basketball for over a decade. Now, it’s real. This is an incredible success in the second season for any coach.
But the UCLA brand, at good times, is powerful and supporters of this program have been waiting for another opportunity to support a national title candidate. But I also think Kelvin Sampson can turn Houston into a hub for multiple transfers to the portal. Jarreau and Grimes have just brought Houston to their first appearance in national semifinals in 37 years. I think both teams will be competitive in the coming years.
We’ll keep the scoring predictions for Monday, but what is the most anticipated player clash in the national championship?
Borzello: Jalen Suggs vs. Davion Mitchell. Suggs is one of the top five players in the NBA and has established himself as a truly special player, while Mitchell has increased his actions as much as anyone else in the NCAA tournament. Mitchell tends to protect the opposing team’s top scorer, and Suggs adjusts to the bill. Mitchell has made life difficult for all sorts of perimeter players throughout the season, most recently Moses Moody and Quentin Grimes. Still, Suggs has next-level speed and explosiveness and will provide a completely different problem to Mitchell. At the other extreme, Suggs ’physicality can overwhelm opponents at times, and he’ll probably enjoy the opportunity to curb Mitchell, assuming Suggs isn’t protecting Jared Butler.
Getaway: Give me Mitchell against Suggs over and over again. I just wish it was a seven game series. Both players are projected as lottery selections for 2021 by ESPN.com, and both give their already great teams a whole new dimension. The funny thing about my small, hypothetical perfect match, though, is that sometimes wishes don’t come true. Mitchell is unlikely to protect Suggs exclusively, and I will be very interested to see how Scott Drew deploys his defensive talent. I wouldn’t be too surprised, for example, for Mitchell to spend some quality time assigned to Andrew Nembhard. The Florida transfer leads Gonzaga in a matter of minutes during the tournament and very often has the ball in his hands in midfield, and Nembhard has been praised by Mark Few as one of the best players he has ever had in the national team.
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After UCLA’s Cody Riley is blocked on the edge, Drew Timme throws the two-handed jam at the other end.
Lunardi: Definitely Mitchell in Suggs. Can’t you see how the veteran chases the first year in the last possession of a tie game? It’s not entirely Bird and Magic, but we’ll see them both on an NBA stage for a very, very long time.
Medcalf: My colleagues are right. But I think Mark Vital and Baylor’s defenders against Drew Timme could decide the match. Throughout the season, we’ve heard the same question about Baylor: Do the bears have enough size and skill to win a team built like Gonzaga? Vital is a major player for Scott Drew. He has 6 feet and five with a lot of Chuck Hayes in his game. Vital is so strong physically that the biggest players never push him. If Timme is dominant and Drew has to find a way to send more help, he will create more space for the rest of Gonzaga’s players. It could also mean Drew has to insert Matthew Mayer into the game first. Flo Thamba and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua will also be critical in this game. But if Vital & Co. they can hold out against the best player in the United States, it will change the game. Timme will see a few defenders on Monday. It may not be the most engaging confrontation in the game, but it is certainly the most important.